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One of the Survivors

One of the Survivors
One of the Survivors
This edition: Hardcover, 208 pages
Ages: 10 - 14
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Description

Fourteen-year-old Joey Campbell knows that he is lucky to be one of the survivors of the school fire. But really, how much luck is involved when he is the lone student to stand up during a fire drill? The only one who insists on getting out of the classroom? Joey’s best friend, Maureen, thankfully decides to follow, but the remaining twenty-four people in Room E201 are swallowed in the mysterious blaze that engulfs their school.

Other than Joey's classroom, the rest of the students heed the fire alarm and survive, but grief-stricken parents and classmates have no one to lash out against except Joey and Maureen. Behind a fence that his dad builds for their own safety, Joey deals with rage, sorrow, and helplessness in equal measure. Some solace can be found within the pages of his journal, but ultimately he must face the living in order to accept everyone and everything that is dead and gone.

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Chapter 1

How did you come to write this book?

I'm not sure. I never know what a writing project is about until I'm well into it. This story revealed itself to me as I endeavored to discover certain things about Joey. What was behind his attitude? Why was he writing in this journal? Why was he staying outside? Basically, what was Joey's problem, and what was he doing about it? And while I was discovering these things, certain patchwork pieces of my life came to the surface and called to be used. One of these pieces included a house fire when I was seven, in which no one died, but the cat did disappear into the smoke as RuthAnne, the babysitter, led us outside to safety. Another was a school fire during my stint as a substitute teacher in which several teachers kept their classes inside because they thought the alarms going off were faulty, as they had been all day. No one was hurt that day, either, but I was angry about the teachers' decision, and that, no doubt, partially fueled the writing of this book. The more I wrote about Joey, the more I learned about him and the more I saw what to write.

Learn more about Susan Shaw

"One of the Survivors is heart-wrenchingly honest, compelling, and ultimately, satisfyingly triumphant."

-- Sally M. Keehn, author of The First Horse I See and I Am Regina

"Susan Shaw peels the layers away until nothing is left but the seed -- and it is both terrible and wonderful."

-- Jerry Spinelli, author of the Newbery Medal-winning Maniac Magee